Iran says Thursday number of its citizens who died in the Hajj stampeded in Saudi Arabia last week has reached 464 – nearly double the previous toll.
Iranian authorities said there was no longer hope of finding any of the country’s missing pilgrims alive.
According to Saudi officials, 769 people died in the crush in Mina, near Mecca, and 934 were injured.
The Saudis have been criticised over their handling of security and for the slow publication of casualty figures.
The crush occurred as two large groups of pilgrims converged at right angles as they took part in one of the Hajj’s major rites.
Iranian officials allege that the overall number of deaths is now more than 1,000, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called on Saudi Arabia to apologise for the deadly stampede.
The ayatollah warned of “harsh” measures if the kingdom fails to promptly repatriate the bodies of Iran’s dead.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has accused Iran of “playing politics” with the disaster and called on the Islamic Republic to await the outcome of an investigation ordered by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman.
The disaster was the second to strike the region in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 109 people.
Source: BBC
